Quite often it people of the Dame Maxwell age that want to raise the age of pension entitlement.

The pension is not a right it is paid for. A portion of our tax bill is put aside to pay us the pension when we reach a pensionable age.

If Muldoon hadn't bribed the electorate all those years ago following Labours introduction of a fully and specifically paid up retirement scheme where employees paid 5% and the employer paid a further 5% into the fund.

A Govt with certain appendages could re-introduce such a scheme and there would be no more concerns about a pension entitlement or a need to raise the age of entitlement. Further with the higher wages these days and the larger number of contributors the % of contribution could be lower.

The Cullen fund would be a lot richer too if Key hadn't stopped payments into the fund.

Alastair Bourne